The US West might not be as wild as it once was, but it’s still got some of the most dramatic scenery on earth. For any photographer interested in landscape this is right at the top of the bucket list. The views here are breathtaking, indeed awesome, in the true sense of the word…

Horseshoe Bend

I’m leading a photographic workshop with Paul Gallagher from Aspect2i to Arizona and Utah later this year (6-15th October). We will travel from the grand vistas of Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, through Zion Park and Bryce Canyon to the hidden gems of Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. A trip from the dramatic to the sublime.

Monument Valley

Lower Antelope Canyon

We will photograph the hoodoos, mesas, buttes, rock formations, the rivers and the valleys. We will have private tours of Mystery Valley to visit the Native American cave dwellings. We will visit the famous slot canyons near Page, but also have a private guide to some of the not so famous slot canyons that the crowds can’t get to.

Lady in the Rock. Lower Antelope Canyon

Dried mud, Wirepass Gulch

Sandfall

Chief

Tree in Zion Park

Dusk in Zion Park

Bryce Canyon amphitheatre

The trip is timed to coincide with the Fall, so we will get the best possible colour in the landscape. The American South West is simply stunning. It’s a photographer’s paradise. If you’re interested and want to know more, then get in contact with me, or look at Aspect2i’s webpage. I can promise you dramatic photographs and memories to last a life-time (and I can get you a discount on the list price of the tour too!)

This place is all about colour. Dusk and dawn, the rocks burn in Bryce Canyon, Utah

Bryce Canyon at dusk

Wind, and constant freeze/thaw weathering have created the amazing rock formations at Bryce. All is jagged teeth and hoodoos. But it’s the minerals in the rocks that create the colour. And when the sun gets low, everything just glows.

Dawn at Natural Bridge, Bryce Canyon

Hoodoo and dead tree

This is the US, so nothing is impossible. Even the trees seem to believe that. Take the fir tree below. It’s grown up out of the canyon to a height of 200 feet before it gets anywhere near open sky. That’s an I-can-do-anything attitude. Unbelievable.

How did this tree grow here?

Those are the actual colours of the rock…

Lust for life

A remarkable place. Can’t wait to return – I want to see it in the snow!

A few of my posts recently have focused on rocks. They’re just endlessly fascinating. Maybe I missed my vocation and should have been a geologist… I make no apology for my obsession. Here are some more pics, from Utah:

One of the Mittens, Monument Valley

Everyone knows Monument Valley, and mighty impressive it is too. Brings out the John Wayne in me; makes me want to shout ‘Yihaaa!’ (I did, quite a lot, to the embarrassment of the kids). But round the corner is a lesser known but just as impressive valley, all the better because it’s deserted.

Eye of the Gods

This is Mystery Valley, land of arches and Navajo ruins. It’s a gem. In fact it’s such a fantastic place for photographers that I don’t think I should be telling you about it. Forget that I’ve told you where it is, enjoy my pictures, and then never go there. Leave it to the Navajo ghosts (and to me, when I return with my tripod!)

Navajo lived here for 2000 years

Those indentations – that’s where the Navajo put the ladder to get up to the hoodoo man’s dwelling

This is truly a land of wide open spaces and dramatic rock formations. Awesome, in the true sense of a much overused word…

How wonderful that rock can do this!

Totem Pole, back in Monument Valley

A dirt track leads out of the valley. Forget the car, I need my horse! And a stetson! YIHAAAAAA!!!!!